"Welcome to The Oval for the ICC World Test Championship Final," Ravi Shastri said. "The sky over South London is grey. The floodlights are on, and the pitch has a thick covering of green grass. It is cold and damp, suited for the fast bowlers."
Siddanth Deva stood at the centre in a white Test sweater and exchanged a nod with Pat Cummins. Match referee Chris Broad held the coin.
Broad flipped it.
"Tails," Cummins called.
"Heads," Broad confirmed.
Shastri turned to Deva. "Siddanth, you have won the toss. What is the decision?"
"We are going to field first, Ravi Bhai."
"Fielding first in a final. What's the reading of the conditions?"
"Looking at the overheads and the grass, the Duke ball will swing and seam. We have a capable pace attack. Putting Australia under pressure with the new ball is our best option."
"And your playing eleven?"
"Four fast bowlers and one spinner. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill at the top, Cheteshwar Pujara at three, Virat Kohli at four, myself at five, Ajinkya Rahane at six. KS Bharat keeps the wickets. Ravindra Jadeja is the spinner, with Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah."
Cummins said he would have bowled first as well.
In the commentary box Nasser Hussain said, "Deva has backed his fast bowlers with a four-pronged attack. That is a double-edged sword. They have to pitch the ball up, attack the stumps and make the batsmen drive. Bowl too short and the Australian top order will grind them down."
Ricky Ponting added, "Warner and Khawaja have to survive the first hour. Blunt the new ball and the pitch will flatten. Execution matters more than the toss."
The Indian team formed a huddle on the outfield.
Deva spoke evenly. "Top of off-stump. Do not search for magic deliveries. Hit a length, hold the seam upright and force them to play. Build pressure over after over. Let's get to work."
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Mohammed Shami took the new Duke ball from the Pavilion End. David Warner took guard.
The first delivery angled in from wide of the crease, pitched on a good length just outside off and seamed away late, beating Warner's defensive push.
Ball two was fuller. Warner pushed it to mid-off.
Ball three held its line, took the inside half of the bat and rolled to square leg. No run.
Shami beat the outside edge again on the fourth ball. Warner left the fifth. The sixth was an in-swinger that Warner jammed out. Maiden over.
Jasprit Bumrah operated from the Vauxhall End. His first ball reared from a length and hit Usman Khawaja on the thigh pad. The second forced an awkward defence. The third was a low full toss that Khawaja flicked for a single.
Warner faced the rest of the over. Two deliveries cut him in half and flew over the stumps.
At first slip Deva called out. "You're gripping the bat too tight, Davey. I saw the same footwork in the Hyderabad nets. Bhuvi had you dancing."
Warner smirked. "Don't worry about my grip, Skip. Just don't drop anything. At least I'm not wearing orange today."
"You'll be wishing you were back in Hyderabad by the time Shami is done," Deva replied. "He's going to find that edge."
Kohli from second slip added, "He's right, Davey. You're looking stiff. Move your feet."
Bumrah jagged one back. It beat the inside edge and hit Warner on the pad. The appeal was turned down.
Harsha Bhogle noted the banter between the Sunrisers teammates.
The first hour was slow. Warner and Khawaja left everything outside off and played with soft hands. Edges fell short of the slips. After twelve overs the score was 18 for no loss.
Siraj entered in the fourteenth over. Bowling round the wicket to Khawaja, he hit a probing length. Khawaja defended the first, tucked the second to mid-wicket and left the third.
The fourth ball stopped slightly on the pitch. Khawaja closed the face early; the leading edge popped up to the right of the keeper. KS Bharat dived forward and took the catch.
Australia 21 for 1.
Ponting said, "Massive breakthrough. Khawaja looked settled, but the hold-up off the surface undid him. Siraj strikes in his first over."
Marnus Labuschagne joined Warner.
Deva brought Shami back with a leg gully and fine leg on the boundary. Shami pitched the first three balls up; Warner left them all. The fourth was a short ball directed at the ribs. Warner tried to duck late; the ball brushed the wristband of his glove and looped down the leg side to Bharat.
Australia 43 for 2.
Hussain said, "Caught down the leg side. Good bowling change. The short ball was executed well."
Steve Smith joined Labuschagne. They left the good-length balls outside off, defended solidly and waited for anything full.
Siraj tested Smith with deliveries angled into the pads. Jadeja bowled a short spell before the break to use the rough outside the left-hander's crease; Labuschagne padded them away.
At lunch Australia were 72 for 2.
Shastri summarised, "India used the conditions well. Shami and Siraj took the openers. Smith and Labuschagne have rebuilt. The game is evenly poised. Join us after the break."
The umpires walked out, followed by the Indian fielders. The morning clouds parted and afternoon sunlight hit the pitch. The surface began to lose its early dampness, turning the contest into a battle of attrition.
Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith resumed. They left the good-length balls, defended the straight ones and waited for errors. When Shami overpitched, Labuschagne drove through the covers. When Siraj dropped short, Smith pulled with placement.
Australia passed 100 in the 38th over and moved past 150 by tea.
Watching Smith's pre-delivery routine, Kohli called from second slip.
"You look like you're dancing on hot coals out there, Steve. Settle down. You're making the whole cordon dizzy."
Smith tapped his bat. "Just watching the ball, Virat."
"We'll see how nice it is when Siraj aims for your ribs. Keep walking across and you'll get trapped in front."
Ponting observed, "Kohli is trying to get under his skin. Smith lives in his own bubble. The more you talk, the more he focuses."
By the final session Australia were 185 for 2.
The Duke ball was seventy overs old. Deva took it himself. He polished one side against his trousers and set an off-side field, leaving mid-wicket open.
Over 71 began.
Ball 1: angled well outside off. Smith shouldered arms.
Ball 2: back of a length. Smith dropped it at his feet.
Ball 3: fuller in the corridor. Smith covered the line and left.
Ball 4: short, directed at the helmet. Smith ducked.
Ball 5: same rhythm, altered wrist. The ball pitched just outside off, gripped and reverse-swung back in. Smith's shuffle left him late. The ball hit the front pad, dead in front of middle and leg.
The appeal was unanimous. The umpire's finger went up.
Ponting said, "He's got him. Deva set him up with the away swing and brought one back. Pure fast-bowling chess."
Smith reviewed. Ball-tracking showed it crashing into middle. He was out for 76.
Travis Head walked in. In the next over Deva bowled a full outswinger. Head threw his hands at it without moving his feet. The thick edge flew low to second slip; Rahane dived and took the catch.
Day 1 ended with Australia rattled.
On the morning of Day 2 the clouds returned and the floodlights came on. With the second new ball Deva hit a heavy length to Alex Carey. The ball climbed; it kissed the glove and ballooned to short leg, where Gill took the catch.
Three overs later Deva bowled a 145 kmph in-swinging yorker to Pat Cummins. The ball dipped under the bat and removed the off stump.
Deva finished with 4 for 65. Siraj and Jadeja wrapped up the last two wickets.
Australia were all out for 324.
"Welcome back to The Oval," Shastri said. "Australia have posted 324. The conditions still favour the fast bowlers. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are walking out."
Starc took the new ball. The first delivery was back of a length outside off; Rohit left it. The second he defended. The third he left. The fourth, short into the ribs, he tucked for a single.
Gill faced a yorker that slipped down the leg side. The final ball of the over, 148 kmph and angled in, beat Rohit's prod and hit the front pad. The umpire raised his finger.
Ponting said, "Starc set him up. Four balls across or back of a length, then the full inswinger. Rohit's head fell over."
India 4 for 1.
Pujara took guard. Gill drove Cummins through the covers for four and punched Starc through point for another.
Boland came on and hit a hard length outside off. Extra bounce took Gill's outside edge; Smith held the catch at second slip.
India 30 for 2.
Pujara absorbed the short balls, left diligently outside off and reached 26. Cummins then pitched on middle, seamed away and took the shoulder of the bat to gully.
India 71 for 3.
Kohli was at the non-striker's end as Deva walked out.
"They are hitting the deck hard," Kohli said. "Boland is relentless on that off-stump line. Starc is searching for the full inswinger."
"We don't chase the game," Deva replied. "Let the ball come to us. Leave everything outside off. Do not poke. Grind them until they bowl to our strengths."
Starc bowled a 150 kmph bouncer. Deva swayed out of the line.
Starc followed through and stopped close. "Not playing in your franchise league now, mate. This is real Test match pace."
Deva tapped the pitch. "If that's real pace, I'm glad I didn't wear the chest guard. Pitch it up."
Starc pitched it up. Deva leaned forward, presented the full face and drove it past the bowler for four.
Hussain said, "Starc offered verbal aggression and followed with a full ball. Deva punched it straight back. Textbook drive."
For the next five hours Deva and Kohli left the ball with precision, defended with soft hands and refused to drive on the up. They tired the fast bowlers.
Ponting said, "Look at the discipline. Australia is throwing everything at them and they are absorbing it."
When the lengths shortened Kohli pulled through mid-wicket. When Cummins or Green overpitched Deva drove down the ground or cut late past gully. They rotated the strike and pushed the partnership past 100, then 150.
Kohli moved to 91 with a cover drive off Green. Cummins brought Lyon on. From over the wicket Lyon landed one in the rough outside off. It gripped, turned and bounced. Kohli's inside edge deflected off the thigh pad to leg slip, where Smith took the catch.
Shastri said, "Nathan Lyon breaks the partnership. Kohli falls nine short of a century."
Kohli out for 91. India 245 for 4, trailing by 79. Ajinkya Rahane walked out to join Deva.
Ajinkya Rahane marked his guard. Deva met him halfway down the pitch.
"Take your time getting settled," Deva said. "The spin is kicking out of the rough. Play as late as possible. We still trail by eighty and need a significant lead."
"I've got you, skip," Rahane replied.
Day 3 began with the second new ball. Deva and Rahane stood firm. Rahane scored with late cuts and back-foot punches. Deva shifted from defence to attack.
Facing Cummins, Deva punched a back-of-a-length ball through extra cover for four to reach his century. He raised his bat to the crowd and the dressing room.
He used his feet against Lyon, pulled Starc and found the gaps. He crossed 150 after Rahane reached fifty.
Late in the afternoon Deva mistimed a lofted drive off Green and was caught at long-on by Starc for 189.
Rahane continued with the lower order and was caught behind off Boland for 89. Lyon finished the innings.
India were all out for 455, a lead of 131.
Australia began their second innings late on Day 3. The pitch was deteriorating; the footmarks had deepened and the bounce was becoming erratic.
Warner and Khawaja survived the new-ball spell from Shami and Bumrah. Labuschagne, who came in after Warner fell to a slip catch, used the sweep against the spinners before stumps.
Day 4 opened under bright sunshine. Deva gave the ball to Jadeja.
Bowling into the rough outside Khawaja's off stump, Jadeja turned the first ball sharply past the edge. The second skidded on. The third landed in a footmark, spun back and took the inside edge to short leg.
Two overs later Jadeja produced a similar delivery to Smith. Smith stepped across, was beaten by the turn and bounce, and was trapped LBW.
Shastri said, "Jadeja is hitting those rough patches with accuracy. Australia are under pressure."
At the other end Shami bowled a skiddy length ball that kept low and removed Green's middle stump.
Head and Carey counter-attacked, sweeping and driving to wipe out the deficit and push the lead past 100.
Deva brought himself on. He hit a heavy length. Three consecutive balls outside off forced Head to defend. The fourth was a rising bouncer. Head went for the pull; the top edge flew to Bharat.
Two overs later Deva bowled a reverse-swinging 144 kmph yorker that trapped Carey LBW.
With the second new ball he pitched a full outswinger to Starc. The outside edge was taken by Kohli at second slip.
Deva finished with 3 wickets. Bumrah yorked the last man.
Australia were all out for 312. India needed 182 to win.
"Welcome to the fifth and final day," Shastri said. "India require 137 more runs, starting at 45 without loss. The pitch is worn and the bounce is variable."
Ponting added, "Australia need early wickets. If Rohit and Gill survive the first hour the chase becomes straightforward."
Starc took the ball. The first delivery was angled across; Rohit left it. The second he drove to mid-off. The third jagged away off a crack and took the outside edge; Carey held the catch at first slip.
India 45 for 1.
Gill hit two boundaries off Cummins. Boland then bowled a length ball on middle that kept low and trapped him LBW.
India 72 for 2.
Pujara took guard. Lyon landed one in the rough; it spun, bounced and took the shoulder of the bat to short leg. Labuschagne took the catch.
India 102 for 3. Eighty runs needed.
Deva walked out. Kohli met him.
"Eighty to get," Kohli said. "Lyon is getting bite from the rough. Play straight and the pace is still there."
"We do not leave this pitch until we are holding the Mace," Deva replied. "No rash shots. Rotate the strike. Watch the variable bounce."
Deva faced Lyon. He stepped out to the first ball and pushed a single. Kohli punched the second through point. Deva pulled the third for four. He defended the fourth and dropped the fifth dead at his feet.
Hussain noted, "He is not letting Lyon settle. Using his feet negates the rough."
Over the next two hours they used their feet, pulled the short balls and ran hard between the wickets. The target dropped steadily: 50, 30, 15.
Four runs needed. Kohli faced Cummins. He drove a full ball through the covers for four.
India had won the World Test Championship.
Kohli ripped off his helmet and roared. Deva raised both arms. Kohli sprinted down the pitch and tackled him.
"We did it, Skip!"
"We did it, Cheeks."
The squad poured onto the field.
Shastri said, "India chased down the target under pressure. Deva led from the front with a century and crucial wickets."
Ponting added, "A complete performance. Australia fought hard, but the discipline of Deva and Kohli in the chase was outstanding."